For all of its outlandish casinos, bright lights and attractions - Las Vegas has always
been missing a stadium.
But with the Raiders boldly relocating to the city in 2020, a vast new venue has now
been constructed.
Rising 10 storeys from the desert, with opening walls, a sliding-pitch, controlled climate
and bright lights of its own, the shimmering black glass building is one of the most expensive
venues ever conceived.
This is Sin City’s $1.8BN mega stadium.
Seeking a move to a larger stadium since the 1980s, when the Raiders’ plan to relocate
from Oakland to Los Angeles (LA) fell-through, they focused their attention on America’s playground.
The bold idea of a 65,000-seat stadium in the centre of Las Vegas was quickly supported
by the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee - and USD $1.1BN from the Raiders
and the NFL was topped-up with USD $750M of public funding, generated by a new tax on
Las Vegas hotel rooms.
With a vacant site behind Mandalay Bay secured in mid-2017, Raiders owner Mark Davis asked
MANICA Architecture to adapt their earlier proposals for the teams’ Carson Stadium
that would have been constructed in LA.
While an ETFE domed roof and reflective black glass skin were added to combat the intense
desert heat, two major elements of the original design were retained.
The north end zone - set to offer sweeping views of LA - was adapted to include a vast
retractable wall that can open up to reveal the Las Vegas strip or close to help regulate
the venue’s temperature.
Framed within that space, the largest 3D-printed object in the world to date - the 26-metre
torch dedicated to former Raiders owner Al Davis - was retained, and with the closing
of a 30-year Allegiant Air naming rights deal, the Raiders’ new home was born.
As engineers re-imagined the stadium for Nevada, works to divert a stormwater drain across
the site began, helping to dramatically reduce the construction timeline.
While a stadium of this size would normally take five years to build, the Allegiant Stadium
is now approaching completion in less than three.
With the site cleared, explosives were used to break-up tough ground and excavate the
venue’s bowl - an exercise that saw over 685,000 cubic metres of earth removed.
While part of the new structure sits below ground to keep the interior cool and better
distribute fans on game days, the excavation also accommodates the stadium’s 8,500-tonne
retractable grass pitch.
This will be the main surface that the Raiders play on - but between games the pitch will
slide out of the stadium to reveal an artificial turf surface on the stadium floor for use
by the University of Nevada (UNLV) Football team.
With the excavation complete, some 20 kilometres of piles were driven across the site to support
the building’s superstructure and the stadium’s eight concrete cores began to rise.
The project required over 80,000 cubic metres of concrete to be poured and saw an on-site
plant created to cope with the demand.
The structure’s steel frame was then constructed and steadily enclosed with the black glass
curtain wall system.
Large sections of the walls were assembled in factory conditions
away from the site, before being transported to Las Vegas and installed.
Finally - despite requiring some re-engineering - the transparent ETFE roof was fitted; a
clever feature that allows natural light but less heat into the stadium.
Though works had remained on track for three years, the events of early 2020 looked set
to delay completion and the NFL were rumoured to be exploring alternative venues for the
start of the season.
But, with the state of Nevada declaring construction an essential activity, work has continued,
and the venue remains on target to substantially complete and be in a position to host events
from the end of July.
Once open, the stadium had been projected to generate USD $620M in economic benefit
each year and to create 6,000 permanent jobs in Southern Nevada - though the likely onset
of a global economic downturn in 2020 may initially impact these figures.
Rising dramatically from the desert, the Raiders’ gamble on this audacious new stadium - that
in its scale, engineering and impact is every bit Las Vegas - could be about to seriously pay-off.
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